The Dragon's Gift

Chapter 4

"How are you half elf?" I ask disbelievingly.
"That's not important right now. What is important is that you know that I've always loved you two. I stayed away from Evrus in order to protect you. Please, can you forgive me?" she asks.
"There is nothing to forgive. We will fight these elves now. I'm going to go to the castle to tell the king about this," I motion towards the newly revealed land, "if he has not already noticed. I will be sure to be in the army. These elves will not win the war," I say with a fierce determination.
"Phoenix, no. You can't fight them. Elves are extremely fast and are more than experts in magic. Two words and you'll be a pile of ashes," my mother says.
"How about we do this together?" says Stone.
"Stone, one more person won't prevent us from becoming well-done."
Just then, an elf walks towards us from within the forest city. I pull up my hands to fight. He raises his hands as he gets nearer. I walk forward cautiously and figure out what he wants. He says he wants to retrieve the dead body. I allow him to do so whilst maintaing a grip on my knife. After he leaves, I put my knife back and return to questioning my mother.
"What were you protecting us from? What danger did this place pose?" I ask.
"Please, this is not the place nor the time. I will tell you when we aren't preoccupied."
Stone decides to ask a question, "Ok. Then tell me this, whose side are you on? Ours, or the elves?"
"Yours. I may be part elf, but I'm also part human. My children are on the human side, my mother is as well, I'll be dead before I let my family suffer at their hands," she says with a slight animosity.
"Whose hands?" I ask.
"The elves. They're so high on their noble steed they'll never come back down to Ar'eile."
"Do you have any idea as to how they plan to attack?"
"Yes. They attack with small numbers, because they're exceptionally talented warriors. If you can outnumber them, you can probably win the first three or so fights. Then they'll most likely send many troops. You'll need a different plan after that though."
Just then, the king once again arrives. "I do hope you are planning something to deal with this situation," he says while pointing at the elven country."
"We are, your majesty," I say.
"Then, tell me, just how do you plan to remedy this."
"We attack with large forces at first. I mean a lot. Then, once the elves realize that we are winning through sheer numbers, they'll eventually counter with just as large of an army, if not larger. Now we figure out how to deal with the rest."
"Thanks. How do you know this will work," he says oblivious to my mom in shining gold armor. Soon enough he notices and understands.
"Mom, what do they fight with?"
"Bows, swords, magic. Why?"
"We are more than a match for bows and swords. Am I to be afraid of Stone Age magicians? We thousands upon thousands of trained warriors at the ready." I say.
"You don't know their skill. They are a force to be reckoned with. Don't underestimate them."
"Ok. Well I'm pretty handy with my glaive so I'm signing up for the army. Stone you should grab your sword and come with me."
"Sure," he says.
I walk to the back of the house and grab my glaive. With Stone right behind me with his sword, we head towards the main part of the city. As we walk towards the road, I give my mom a hug before continuing.